Holly Hill Academy football off to good start

By David Shelton

Senior Writer

Holly Hill – The main goal of the 2024 Holly Hill Academy football team is a return to the top of the mountain.

A streak of three straight state titles in the SCISA 8-man ranks was ended last season with a loss to Jefferson Davis Academy. This year’s Raiders team is aiming to return to the championship level. So far, so good.

The Raiders are off to a good start this fall. Winning five of their first six games of the season. The lone loss came to nemesis Jefferson Davis Academy by a 36-18 score in mid-September.

Remaining games on the schedule include Kings Academy (10/11), Cathedral Academy (10/18), Cross Schools (10/25) and Jefferson Davis again to close out the regular season.

As is usually the case with the Raiders, there have been a host of solid contributors to the success this season.

At quarterback, senior Ashton Soles has rushed for 265 yards and seven touchdowns while passing for 174 yards and four scores.

Three players share the bulk of the load in the running game. Sophomore Parker Kizer has rushed for 488 yards and five touchdowns, averaging 9.4 yards per carry. Senior Ax Wolpert has rushed for 391 yards and six scores while averaging 11.1 yards per carry. And, senior Camdin Harmon has gained 214 yards and averages 11.9 yards per attempt.

Jody Gillam is the team’s leading receiver with 93 yards on seven catches. Harmon has 77 receiving yards.

Senior Tyler Green is a returning right guard. Senior Brodon Murray is working at left guard and senior Jagger Edmonds is the center. Juniors Ryan Brown and Shade Snyder are getting reps at right guard, while freshmen Kaz Brown and Aarav Patel are working on the left side. Backing up Edmonds are junior Evan Floyd and freshman Caleb Bell.

Many of the same players are key performers on the defensive side as well. Junior Jason Iller has 42 tackles, including 17 tackles for loss. Kizer has 39 tackles and Wolpert has 33 tackles.

Soles has 38 tackles and eight tackles for loss while Harmon has a team-high 48 tackles with 11 tackles for loss and two interceptions.